Exactly six years ago I heard a reawakening Peking . . as I wrote here, I felt a pulse, heard a breath. A warm flow began to within that shell too cold and too long. . . Peking in the Upper Bay was calling on buoyancy it once had here south of South America. I allowed myself to feel a little hope. Possibly this trip to the dry dock would be a preliminary to a miraculous rebirth.
But too much time has passed again . . . momentum has dissipated. Undercurrents in this article suggest the end is starting to be acknowledged.
but IMHO, this is alright. Mortality stalks all of us. So here’s my proposal: let those who hold her destiny organize a decommissioning, a wake. She arrived–I imagine–with some fanfare if not an official commissioning for her imagined new role in 1975 . . . first at the Narrows here and then–in November 1975, according to A Dream of Tall Ships–from the shipyard up to the East River. How about a party now . . . as then. And then . . reef her, ceremoniously.
Opinions are entirely my own.
tugster: a waterblog 
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January 16, 2015 at 9:54 am
sfdi1947
Why I wonder, are the wonders of Human Ingenuity, of History, so oft displayed in museums where said wonders are degraded by the wants of self important managers who are solely interested in themselves.
We have witnessed this in numerous instances: Dewey’s Flagship at Manila, the USS Olympia lies in Philadelphia, in extreme danger of sinking at its moorings, its 120 year old Iron Hull so rotten from oxidation, it is an example of the extremis of mismanagement. Benefactors have sought to repair the ship for free, but the museum and the city that hosts it, squabbled over the towing costs, and the opportunity was frittered away.
Is this the course of Wavetree and Peking, Pioneer and others? I fear so, to survive in todays museum market an exhibit must generate revenue or have a benefactor with bottomless pockets. This is what’s missing at South Street Seaport, further, I believe that this trend will continue so long as the states of New York, New Jersey and the cities that surround the port continue their efforts to reduce the port, by regulation, to an antiquity, by their attitude favoring more southern ports.
January 18, 2015 at 3:48 pm
Anonymous
I have written before and discussed in person with Tugster that saving historic ships is indeed a noble effort, but hardly self sustaining.
In Baltimore, we have the 1906 built steam tug Baltimore in danger of sinking at its pier.
The fully restored Baltimore built and based Liberty John W. Brown remains isolated from the public down on south Clinton Street among the idled Ready Reserve Fleet ships and the great salt piles of the Rukert Terminal.
Meanwhile, preserved vessels that had little or nothing to do with Baltimore history garner the public’s interest at the Inner Harbor.
It is impractical and financially responsible to save every vessel, but there are significant vessels out there that MUST be preserved.
Now, how do we go about doing that?